The new Evernote 10 Version List of Missing Core Features

[gazumped 10,778]

Hi.  First  comment - you may want to change the tag line for this section:  "If you have feedback related to the older version of Evernote for Windows, post here!" (my emphasis) - I think you mean the new one?

Some questions arise before I update my current version 6.25...

1. Is there a "step back" option? - i.e. once updated would I be able to revert to my 6.25 version if the new app is not performing well?
2. Local (unsynced) notes are no longer supported - do you still store local copies of the notes synced with the server database?  I ask because I use Backupery's app to export my notes to ENEX on a daily basis and I'd like to continue to do so after updating.
3. For anyone wary of updating to the new version - how long do you forsee support for legacy versions continuing?  Will there still be bug fixes and updates for those versions?
4. Presentation Mode is something which is very useful for academic users - is there any prospect of this coming back / some sort of integration with a presentation app?
5. Another service I use is Postach.io - will that app continue to be able to convert my notes to a blog?

I can work around the Outlook Clipper no longer being supported (there's still email!) but the list of unsupported features in the help page says (again my emphasis)

Quote

 

his is not an exhaustive list of features, but the most notable include:

• Local notebooks
• Presentation mode
• Context
• ScanSnap Evernote Edition firmware and software
• Outlook clipper

 

Can we expect an exhaustive list of 'no longer supported' features anytime soon?

[gazumped 10,778]

OK - I see now.  Well,  on the points you mentioned... (in no order...)

Create import folders

http://scansnap.fujitsu.com/global/evernote/index.html

Local folders not coming back.

[treelight 3]

I just wrote this to Evernote:
I have Evernote 7.14 on my old iMac, but when I downloaded a new version for my new iMac I got 10,17.6. Confusing because the old iMac says I have the latest version. Then I noticed a few things, none of which I like. The new version will not let me access customer support, though I pay for Evernote Plus. The tags are down below, which I don't like. I am used to seeing them all above and it makes them an extra movement to put in, and I don't see a way to change it. The sidebar font is small and dull/grey and I don't see a preference to change it. And where is the sync button? Also, the new one has a bright green Share button and an Only You button that does nothing. I don't want either one. The Add Note button is way at the left which will make it harder to access when I have several apps open. What shall I do when I trade in my older iMac? Why would you make an upgrade that gets rid of so many good things? Can I go back to an earlier version that will work on my new iMac? 

I did try downloading the "Legacy App" from their page, (tried finding 7.14 also). I doesn't work on my new iMac.

 

[PinkElephant 6,847]

Legacy should run, through Rosetta.

v10 is different, so take your time checking it out. There are changes, but not all changes are negative. It is however not feature complete. I use legacy for some that are still amiss in v10.

You can try support here:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

 

The ticket type "Account" should be open for all users, and allow you to check out your access to features.

[vuxus 2]

On the iOS version is doing great and I like the features provided but in Desktop version, I still prefer the legacy Evernote.

My suggestion, I think what you need to improve are:

1. The "search engine" sometime I can't find my documents even with the correct key words
2. I think improve the search method where having a build-in A.I like what Google did in their search for new movie.
3. SYNC issue - e.g. sometime I notice my image disappear from the document. Prefer at least Evernote keep latest copy in your history so I can retrieve if there is any issue occurs.

For timing being ... I stay with the old one.

[peterlemer 13]

On 7/23/2021 at 2:19 AM, treelight said:

I just wrote this to Evernote:
I have Evernote 7.14 on my old iMac, but when I downloaded a new version for my new iMac I got 10,17.6. Confusing because the old iMac says I have the latest version. Then I noticed a few things, none of which I like. The new version will not let me access customer support, though I pay for Evernote Plus. The tags are down below, which I don't like. I am used to seeing them all above and it makes them an extra movement to put in, and I don't see a way to change it. The sidebar font is small and dull/grey and I don't see a preference to change it. And where is the sync button? Also, the new one has a bright green Share button and an Only You button that does nothing. I don't want either one. The Add Note button is way at the left which will make it harder to access when I have several apps open. What shall I do when I trade in my older iMac? Why would you make an upgrade that gets rid of so many good things? Can I go back to an earlier version that will work on my new iMac? 

I did try downloading the "Legacy App" from their page, (tried finding 7.14 also). I doesn't work on my new iMac.

 

What new mac do you have? I have a 2019 iMac i9 and 7.14 works fine.

 

pete

[PinkElephant 6,847]

The GUI decisions are as they are, like it or not. 

Access to customer support is available, maybe a bit hidden. If you use a mobile client, it is easier to find there (in settings). Or use this link:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

If you want to use the legacy client, you find it here. But be aware: End of life, no changes, no new features:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052560314-Install-an-older-version-of-Evernote

Personally I only use it for a few functions where v10 still has no feature parity.

And don’t know from where you got your v10 version: It is not current. Current version is 10.19.2.

[jean jamin 14]

After giving evernote the benefit of the doubt one last time in december '20, I'm done with it.
New frustrations and problems every time. Missing features of which is unclear whether they'll be back, etc. Most importantly, they've made Evernote a new juggernaut with a cluttered interface that doesn't help you find everything you're looking for quickly. They just don't seem to get it at Evernote. 
Have you ever heard of Ironic Leap? Simple, intuitive, find what you're looking for quickly. And yes, I am one of the 5% (according to the CEO) crazy people who use tags very intensively.
Tags for apple notes are coming and I like Bear's very simple interface much better.
After 13 years of evernote use of which many years as a premium user .... it is goodbye evernote ...

[PinkElephant 6,847]

Fine - high on emotion, low on content.

If another solution suits you better, it is a natural choice to move on.

[gazumped 10,778]

27 minutes ago, jean jamin said:

After 13 years of evernote use of which many years as a premium user .... it is goodbye evernote

It's entirely your choice - good luck with your next choice.  I'm still with Evernote - allbeit with their Legacy product - happily using the features in the way I've grown used (or resigned) to over these past several years.  There's no requirement (yet) to adopt the new version - it's an option not a compulsion.  Just sayin'

[mhowie 11]

On 8/27/2021 at 7:18 AM, gazumped said:

It's entirely your choice - good luck with your next choice.  I'm still with Evernote - allbeit with their Legacy product - happily using the features in the way I've grown used (or resigned) to over these past several years.  There's no requirement (yet) to adopt the new version - it's an option not a compulsion.  Just sayin'

Yep, same here. Legacy until such time they might choose to completely abandon (as in it doesn't sync) then I will move on as well. This assumes, of course, the current product doesn't improve so its performance is at least equal to Legacy.

[Coffee First Thing 112]

10 minutes ago, mhowie said:

Yep, same here. Legacy until such time they might choose to completely abandon (as in it doesn't sync) then I will move on as well. This assumes, of course, the current product doesn't improve so its performance is at least equal to Legacy.

Me, too. I'm still using the Legacy version (and on Android.) I'll hold on for awhile longer, and then either jump ship to a different service, or use the new Evernote if it finally matches the old Evernote in features and usability. 

[Merrow 5]

27 minutes ago, Coffee First Thing said:

Me, too. I'm still using the Legacy version (and on Android.) I'll hold on for awhile longer, and then either jump ship to a different service, or use the new Evernote if it finally matches the old Evernote in features and usability. 

Loudly agree as does every other multi-year Evernote user I am aware of.  Let me stress that one aspect of usability is ease of access to common functions - the current "new" Evernote has hidden (moved) some previously easy to find and access functions which makes many long time users see the "new" product "usability" as poor.

[Tjoffolajnen 0]

Dears, community 

First thanks for developing this tool which I have used since the start of Evernote (i think). By thus I have quite some volumes of notes in by now. It has become one of life's essentials. 

With that stated and the reason for bringing me here:  I would love to get some of the old features back as of presentation mode in the new Evernote. It's super useful as the flow from reading--> taking notes --> presenting notes (and other related items) are all done in the tool. Do we have a date or a release note for this story? 

Thanks a lot, and please keep them developments coming! 

KR Fredrik 

[PinkElephant 6,847]

Presentation mode needs an entire own code setup in the app. I think EN had a pretty good view of how much the tool was used, and decided against implementing it. We are now 2 years older, and killing presentation mode obviously didn’t have an impact on the apps standing.

You can reach EN staff by feedback or support ticket.

My expectation is that presentation mode is gone, and will never ever return. It is a niche within of a niche, and can’t compete against apps or online solutions (take a look at Prezi.com if you want something other than PowerPoint) that make a living from reinventing presentations.

[Mike DM 6]

I know that this is now a very old topic, but I'm hoping that some of the people who commented before will see this.

I saw this thread back in mid 2021 and made notes to myself to avoid moving past the Evernote for Windows version I was on (6.25.1.9091). Just recently, Evernote for Windows gave me a pop-up warning that I needed to update immediately to implement important security updates (or something like that). I was able to close the pop-up and continue working, but it concerned me that a forced upgrade may be coming, so I came back here to see the latest posts and ask questions.

Are people still able to use the new and legacy versions side by side, and if so, how did you install the newer version without it over-writing the old one? Also, what does the newer version(s) do with your treasured database? Do both versions update the database as you work? I don't understand how this can happen when the newer version doesn't support a local database (or am I misunderstanding something?).

It's time to renew my subscription (with a price increase), and my fear is that I will somehow soon be faced with figuring out how to migrate to another service or lose access to the database of notes that I've accumulated. 

The only reason that I originally committed to using Evernote was the assurance that my database could be stored locally AND that I could export all notes to html in the event that they changed the software negatively or went out of business. They really do have us by the gonads in this regard. I've never tried it, but I'm sure that converting my enex file to html files would be a mess (but way better than losing all your notes).

So how about those questions? 

Thank you,

Mike

[PinkElephant 6,847]

You still have a local copy, and you can still export to HTML with v10, so where's your problem ?

Legacy is slowly decaying, on the Mac the legacy client (which is different from Windows) it already has some severe deficiencies. If Windows will kill it, nobody knows. MS used to tolerate outdated software much longer than MacOS did - Windows legacy is still 32bit code.

The other open question is the new sync - it most likely will bring a massive change to the document / note code base, and thus a new database design. We are other users, basically ignorant about the question if there will be any backward compatibility.

This told, you have all the available facts. I I were you, I would renew and sort things out when necessary. Breaking things out of fear they could be broken is usually not the best option.

[peterlemer 13]

4 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

Legacy is slowly decaying, on the Mac the legacy client (which is different from Windows) it already has some severe deficiencies.

My v7 on Mac seems to be fine, but obviously that would depend on my usage.I agree that v10 has some unique delicious features but I'm not sensing any decay in v7What have you noticed?

 

pete

[gazumped 10,778]

I'm up to 61,000 notes and counting, and still running 6.25.1 on one (old) laptop,  and v10 on my new(ish) Dell desk monster.  I use v10 98% of the time and Legacy for occasional lookups - the one benefit being that I keep my notes in the EXB file on the laptop as well as in whatever format in V10.  Although I'm multiply paranoid about losing data I've only ever lost a handful of notes in 15 years with Evernote,  and the jury's still out on whose fault that actually was anyway.  It is possible to backup individual notebooks to Enex files from v10 - if you have a lot of notebooks,  one or other of the many third party automation tools should be able to handle that for you.

I've not had any upgrade warnings on Legacy yet,  and I have no plans to update the laptop anyway - it can't handle v10.  I'm quite happy to run that until I physically can't - and it's likely to be a Windows update that kills it since Evernote is no longer supporting Legacy.

To answer a couple of questions - there's a version of Legacy that runs alongside v10 and you can install both on one device.  I'd recommend that you install both and try your best to get along with v10 - sooner or later it will be the only option,  and you may need to change some workflows to use it.  You can find out now and work through any issues,  with the added fall-back that Legacy is still available if you hit any major issues or time-soaks.

I've not seen any issues with Legacy to date - AFAIK it works as "well" as it always did;  but if you use both versions,  new features like ToDo and Calendar (obvs) do not work in Legacy.  To avoid meltdowns do not switch from one to the other frequently or quickly.

Install an older version - https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052560314 - This will be something like 6.25.2 or 3 that does not update or clash with v10.  It installs to its own separate database.

[Mike DM 6]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

I'm up to 61,000 notes and counting, and still running 6.25.1 on one (old) laptop,  and v10 on my new(ish) Dell desk monster.  I use v10 98% of the time and Legacy for occasional lookups - the one benefit being that I keep my notes in the EXB file on the laptop as well as in whatever format in V10.  Although I'm multiply paranoid about losing data I've only ever lost a handful of notes in 15 years with Evernote,  and the jury's still out on whose fault that actually was anyway.  It is possible to backup individual notebooks to Enex files from v10 - if you have a lot of notebooks,  one or other of the many third party automation tools should be able to handle that for you.

I've not had any upgrade warnings on Legacy yet,  and I have no plans to update the laptop anyway - it can't handle v10.  I'm quite happy to run that until I physically can't - and it's likely to be a Windows update that kills it since Evernote is no longer supporting Legacy.

To answer a couple of questions - there's a version of Legacy that runs alongside v10 and you can install both on one device.  I'd recommend that you install both and try your best to get along with v10 - sooner or later it will be the only option,  and you may need to change some workflows to use it.  You can find out now and work through any issues,  with the added fall-back that Legacy is still available if you hit any major issues or time-soaks.

I've not seen any issues with Legacy to date - AFAIK it works as "well" as it always did;  but if you use both versions,  new features like ToDo and Calendar (obvs) do not work in Legacy.  To avoid meltdowns do not switch from one to the other frequently or quickly.

Install an older version - https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052560314 - This will be something like 6.25.2 or 3 that does not update or clash with v10.  It installs to its own separate database.

@gazumped Thank you for the informative reply!  I downloaded a copy of the legacy version accessed via the page you linked back in July of 2021 (I think). At that time, it was a slightly lower version number than that page has now (which I am currently downloading). Do you have any reason to think that the current version 10.xx would clash with my current version 6.25.1.9091?  I ask because I agree with @PinkElephant to not fix things that aren't broken, so updating to what the developers now are calling the last Legacy version adds one more layer of complexity to the business of attempting to install and run v10 next to my Legacy version.

So besides asking you to guess whether my version 6.25.1.9091 could run alongside a v10, I'm also wondering if what you are saying is that v10 does NOT update the Legacy EXB database; that when you install v10 it apparently imports the old database and then works strictly off the new cloud database? 

Also, @PinkElephant, I'm confused: you say that v10 keeps a local copy. When this forum thread got started, everyone said it didn't. Has that changed? Can you tell me the storage location of the v10 local copy and the file extension name?

@gazumped, your paragraph advising me to try using both NOW, and all the logic that went with it has convinced me to do what I did NOT plan to do. @PinkElephant misunderstood me. I wasn't planning to do anything now; I just wanted to see what had changed over time, and see if I might be forced to change anytime soon. I really don't need more tech work right now. But your advice is wise, so I'll proceed to install a copy of v10 soon. I'll make a backup of my EXB file just prior. 

So if you download and install a v10, it doesn't overwrite vital files?  I just can't comprehend that it wouldn't. Do people install it to a different directory to keep things from getting broken? 

[agsteele 2,601]

20 minutes ago, Mike DM said:

I'm confused: you say that v10 keeps a local copy. When this forum thread got started, everyone said it didn't. Has that changed? Can you tell me the storage location of the v10 local copy and the file extension name?

Evernote v10 does not sure a local copy as an EXB file. But the local data are stored in a single directory structure. %AppData%\Evernote on Windows with the direct download application.

To be honest the master copy is in the cloud so a local version is probably not very useful. If you really want to retain a local backup I would recommend one of the documented backup options recorded in the forums. I use a GitHub project called evernote-backup

[PinkElephant 6,847]

V10 keeps a completely separate local copy. This means you need the same space again on your main drive. @agsteele already pointed out the directory on Windows.

The only difference is if you had local (unsynced) notebooks. These need to be saved manually to ENEX. If not saved, they will be erased. Everything synced to the server will be moved over automatically.

The update installer will find the legacy install, and will terminate it. The new local database gets downloaded from the server.

AFTER v10 was installed, you can reinstall legacy, using the link posted by @gazumped . The local database will download from the server again.

In the end you have 2 installations, side by side, each running its own local database. Both will be kept actual by syncing to and from the same cloud database .

[Mike DM 6]

Thank you both for those informative replies! 

@PinkElephant, the install process now makes sense. It also now makes sense that I should only use the version given in the link earlier, because it's likely coded specifically to allow itself to be installed alongside the new version without ***** things up. And of course, they also coded it so that it will appear gray to help distinguish it from the other one.

I'm 95% sure that I never created any unsynced notebooks. How might I tell for sure before I potentially erase them?

BTW: I recall now that I did install the new v10 back in July of 2021 (or near), and I hated it as much as all the other posters who left their thoughts in this thread. the biggest thing that I hated was the glacial pace of the app on my laptop. I'm using the same machine today, and I have really slow internet. I wonder if speed is still a major complaint? I know it was one of the complaints back in 2020 when @gazumped started this thread.

@agsteele: Thanks for the directory location. I have a backup of the laptop run each night, to a NAS. So I guess the "local copy" business is becoming less important. Since @PinkElephant said that v10 still allows export to HTML, I think that the bases are now covered - there is still an escape hatch with your data if need be.

[AlbertR 319]

@Mike DM I'm a Legacy user as You and understand all Your concerns or at least questions... I'm not as far as @gazumped with my transition - but I run two accounts (private and business) so I decided to make experiences with both versions in productive environments.

My recommendations are:

• Do NOT run V10 and Legacy in parallel on one computer.
  • (even if it technically possible - local databases are completely seperated)
  • V10 tries to catch some system definitions that are important to Legacy users (i.e. externally used evernote:-URLs will always be redirected to EN10 after every EN10 startup whereas Legacy does not turn this behavior back. If you what to enable Legacy as the evernote:-URL-destiination, you have to modify a registry key...)
  • Everytime V10 is updated, Legacy processes are stopped also.
  • You will be confused with may UI differences if you try to switch between the versions during normal work.
  • Syncing in such situations will lead to duplicate notes because syncing methodology has changed.
     
• Working with Legacy and V10 in one account but on different computers is OK (@gazumped's use case)
  • The only problem might be that Legacy does not understand some newly implemented note content like tasks, calender and formatting options like checklists and headlines
    
• Working in different accounts on different machines in different environments is completely OK
  • ... to learn and enjoy new functions 😉
  • In my case I moved the smaller account to V10 ...

[AlbertR 319]

25 minutes ago, Mike DM said:

I wonder if speed is still a major complaint?

Yes (at least to me). Overall speed of EN10 itself (startup, display and sync) to better by the time - but fluent work is not as easy as in Legacy. V10's UI is nice - but needs much more space on the screen and has some idiotic disadvantages (placement of tags, impossibility to sort note lists by reminder times, absence of a reminder done time column in note lists, ...)

[Mike P 2,247]

10 hours ago, AlbertR said:

impossibility to sort note lists by reminder times, absence of a reminder done time column in note lists

Just to clarify. EN now has a reminder tab that shows all notes with reminders in either all notes or a notebook. When you are in this tab then you can display the reminder time and sort by it. When you are in the normal tab you can also display the reminder date but not sort by it. This relates to other complaints relating to the very limited sort options in V10

[AlbertR 319]

2 hours ago, Mike P said:

EN now has a reminder tab

OK, my fail - to be honest, I didn't see it (or saw it before some time and dismissed it's usage because it does not offer any real advantage 😉)

• You cannot add a "reminder done time" column 😞 
• If you remove the "reminder time" column in either tab, it will be removed in both (both tabs share the same configuration) 😞 
• Both tabs are tabs that cannot be snapped off from the main EN windows (which would be nice to) 🙏

OK, You can can sort by "reminder time" in the reminder tab - but why not in the normal note list? I think it's a 3-lines-of-code change to enable it...

To show up "reminder done time" in both tabs might need some more effort to implement - but it is not a very big task.

To store independant configuration settings for the tabs is task of similar effort (my estimation).

To snap-off and -in tabs from the main window needs further investigation (I'm not an Electron developer 😉)

All-in-all these things might help to get me an EN10 fan, and I'm sure they'll come anytime in future (hopefully).

[Mike DM 6]

@AlbertR: Thank you for your informed opinion! Also a huge thank you for the effort that you've put into your EN10 Missing Features article! (see his signature line for a link to it)  It answers some of the important questions I had regarding what started this thread back in late 2020 - missing core features - and/or UI changes that were seen as negatives. There are still many - as you have so painstakingly detailed!  Now I know without the exasperation and time cost (or time-soaks, as @gazumped eloquently put it) that I don't yet want to invest the time in trying v10 again. Not now. I'm too overwhelmed with other work for beta testing, which, in spite of the improvements they have made in EN10 since the initial release, does still amount to that for me. 

@gazumped, I haven't forgotten the wisdom of your suggestion to try to begin using v10 before I have no other choice. It's sound! But at this moment, I'm going to take my chances that they won't somehow torpedo Legacy before I've had time to learn v10. If they do, I'll decide my course of action then, as I do with so many things these days. I seem to be in the business of putting out fires, with little time for sensible planning ahead.

All of you that have posted recently (or along this whole thread, for that matter) have given me valuable information that I will come back to at the right time. I'm sure that it will be helpful to many others who have questions as well!

My gratitude to each of you.

Michael

 

[PinkElephant 6,847]

Regarding legacy, there are 2 main issues:

OS changes - we currently see the legacy Mac client dying in increments: First the view was stripped from screen size, then the inline view and opening of PDFs mamed. Both happened after MacOS Ventura updates, probably removing resources used by the legacy client.

Since Windows rarely tackles any old code, the Windows legacy version is probably less likely popping up these surprises.

New syncing: We know EN was developing and is now beta testing an improved sync. I don’t think it will be compatible to legacy. So either EN decides to run 2 cloud databases side by side, or legacy will be cut off once the new sync takes over.

That‘s my insight, from open sources only. What to make out of it is everybody’s task. I quit using legacy some months ago, since it doesn’t make much sense on Macs any more.

[Dave-in-Decatur 2,940]

On 4/9/2023 at 7:04 PM, Mike DM said:

@AlbertR: Thank you for your informed opinion! Also a huge thank you for the effort that you've put into your EN10 Missing Features article! (see his signature line for a link to it)  It answers some of the important questions I had regarding what started this thread back in late 2020 - missing core features - and/or UI changes that were seen as negatives. There are still many - as you have so painstakingly detailed!

I will admit that I only glanced at @AlbertR's carefully crafted list, but I have to say that it does nothing to persuade me that v. 10 is more problematic than I currently find it. Someone who had never used v. 6 and earlier of Evernote would not miss some of the things on the list, having never known that they existed. It may also be worth noting that some of the things that have been introduced in v. 10 were long-standing subjects of complaint about v. 6 and earlier. I want to remark on just a few subjects.

• Explicit synchronisation with server not possible: But of course Ctrl/Cmd+R does force a reload, and thereby a sync.
• Creation date of a note is not visible in note window: I rarely need to consult that information, and would prefer not to have it taking up screen space, when I can see it just by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I, which also displays the most recent updated date, etc.
• Changing creation dates of notes is very complicated: I know that some people do this as a means of sorting or other record-management. I would never, ever want to do it, and I suspect I might even be in the majority in this. I do not ever want to have confusion about when a note was created; and I am confident that if it were easier to change that date, there would be frequent complaints here about accidentally changing it and losing the information forever.

All in all, it seems to me that we have here is a very specific way of using Evernote, far from unique but also far from universal, as well as an acquired set of personal workflow habits. Evernote has for a long time offered so many possibilities to different users that a constellation of shortcomings that seems critical to one will seem less important to another. For instance, the idea that being able to change the creation date of a note is a core feature that renders the program unusable is very puzzling to me. For my purposes, v. 10 mostly works well, and has been getting better. I appreciate the thought and singlemindedness that @AlbertR has employed, but I would have a very different list of missing essentials, most of them on the Android app (e.g., being able to select multiple notes in a list).

[AlbertR 319]

5 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

I want to remark on just a few subjects.

You are right, it's my list of missing features. But I'm not alone and will give some background to these subjects:

• Explicit synchronisation with server not possible...
  Especially in Teams environments it may happen that notes are changed nearly in parallel from different clients. It's a hard job to sync this (I know) but it might help to not let the system decide when to sync (immediately after every keystroke?, after an sentence has been ended? after focus is left? after <anything else>).
  Maybe I should change my headline to "Syncing is annoying in some cases" because I/we meet situations in which the current syncing algorithm is giving up, duplicates news and/or placing copies in a special folder.
   
• Creating date not visible and hard to change...
  As long as EN is used simply as a note taking app, this is indeed not important. But if you use it as a note managing app, the creating date is really needed to get events, articles, meetings a.s.o. into a meaningfull order (as long as we do not have further possibilities to assing properties to notes like described in Evernote - Research tags - General Feature Requests ).
  Here are some examples:
  • Normally it is not of interrest to know, when I've got the information (added the note). The most important information (after the headline) is the date, an event or meeting will take place or when an article has been released.
  • If you scan a couple (or masses) of older documents, nobody will know when you have scanned it. Every afterwork of scanning sessions start with defining propper headlines, event dates (my "creation date"s). Having done this, I move the notes to their destination notebooks (which are for me somewhat like a master-tag) and tag them according to my tagging rules.

If logged F2 to change any note property inside a note list - General Feature Requests  in hope to get note list functionality enhanced before a long time. But currently V10 is a real back-step in this area 😞

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 2,940]

Thanks, @AlbertR. It is in fact often of interest to me to know when I first created a note, and nothing in the way I manage notes would make it desirable to change that date. I am a literalist about "creation date"; I don't want to use it as a fungible piece of metadata to be employed for other purposes. Again, just different choices about how to do things. Perhaps part of the difference is that I don't use Evernote much for storing and archiving materials, but rather for creating and accessing ideas about different writing and research projects. And my work is mostly solitary rather than collaborative, which also leads to different requirements.